China and Italy: the Long Arm of the Law

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Two stories of law and order, in very different contexts, introduced by Pascale Harter. Martin Patience in Beijing looks at the real motives behind China's ongoing crackdown on corruption - and asks what impact it's having, when bribes, influence-peddling and patronage are so ingrained in daily life. Even those services which should be free and provided by the state (like health and education) are now riddled with graft, and all too often it's the clean-handed who end up being denounced and punished by their corrupt colleagues. In Italy, Dany Mitzman meets members of the carabinieri, the country's parallel police force, and learns why so many of them come from the south, how their personal lives are dictated by their work ... and why Italians so love to joke about "carabinieri logic". Producer: Polly Hope Photo: Officers of the Italian Carabinieri chat in central Naples on November 16, 2011 (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)